Both Adam Schefter and Josina Anderson have reported that the Dallas Cowboys are moving their top WR, Amari Cooper, to Cleveland.
The Cowboys trading late, day three, selections is a sign they were looking to do away with the team’s former #1 wide receiver. Dallas needed to move Cooper by March 20, when his $20 million base salary becomes fully guaranteed. Dallas now only has a dead cap of $6 million. Cooper had signed a five year, $100 million deal with Dallas in 2020. Two years later and he is now in Cleveland.
The move has come after numerous cap casualties have already hit the Cowboys as they look to get under the salary cap to fit star players large contracts like Dak Prescott and Zeke Elliott.
The Browns trade has major implications for the Philadelphia Eagles for a number of reasons.
No Amari Cooper = Dallas Got Easier to Defend
There’s no mistake that Dak Prescott and the Cowboys have feasted on the NFC East as long as Amari Cooper has been with the team. The Cowboys are expected to pay Michael Gallup before he enters free agency as he recovers from his ACL surgery. Meaning unless Dallas drafts a receiver in the first round, the Eagles can match up Darius Slay on Ceedee Lamb and Avonte Maddox in the slot while not putting too much pressure on whoever their number two corner ends up being.
It also means Dak might not be the same QB. In 2018, before the trade for Amari Cooper, the Cowboys were 3-4, and Dak had only thrown for 250 yards once. This came off a year in 2017 where the Cowboys missed the playoffs. In 2021, the Cowboys were 0-2 with Dak throwing 2 TD’s and 2 INT’s.
Dak is not the same QB without Amari. The numbers show this, and it makes the Cowboys much easier to defend.
DeShaun Watson
Yes, the Browns trading for Amari Cooper even impacts what the Eagles can potentially do at QB. With giving up basically spare change for a Pro-Bowl WR in Cooper, the Browns still have the players, draft capital and cap space to be able to make a move for the Houston Texans QB.
It means another potential bidder for the services of a QB who might not play this year due to his pending NFL investigation and 22 sexual assault allegations. While originally, some teams could argue that the looming NFL discipline to come would lower his overall value, the more bidders out there, the higher the bidding will go.
While Cooper getting out of the NFC certainly helps Philly, the Browns getting Watson would mean Watson preferred to go to Cleveland over Philadelphia.
Wow.
The Bid For a New Eagles WR Continues
Let me be very clear, the Eagles were never going to be able to get Cooper for the price the Browns got. Jerry Jones would never give Philadelphia an advantage like that over his own team so let’s stop the “Howie should’ve done the deal” before it comes up.
It does leave the list of available WR’s via trade or free agency smaller though. The Eagles have shown they have enough capital to make a move for a top receiver, and Cooper being out of the equation changes nothing.
It just makes their overall options smaller.
Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire
